Walton's Religion. 175 



for take notice no man can lose what he 

 never had." 



Then follow fly-fishing and fly-making ; 

 and it surely does not follow that, because 

 Walton tells us he gives the directions of 

 Barker and another first-rate fly-fisher, he 

 knew nothing about it himself. It is clear 

 to me that he was a good all-round angler, 

 and was experienced in all the styles of 

 fishing he describes. 



The rest of this chapter is a most plea- 

 sant^mixture of fishing and other lore and 

 praTs'e of nature and thanks to God ; one 

 very marked characteristic of Walton 

 being that his religion is so purely and 

 genuinely a part of himself that, though 

 he brings it in at all sorts of odd seasons, 

 it is never out of place and never offends. 

 As Lowell says, " The reader of the 

 Angler finds himself conscious of one 

 meaning in the sixth Beatitude too often 

 overlooked, that the pure in heart shall 

 see God, not only in some future and 

 far-off sense, but wherever they turn their 

 eyes." 



" Piscator. And now, Scholar, my 

 direction for the flie-fishing is ended with 

 this showre, for it has done raining ; and 

 now look about you, and see how plea- 

 santly that Meadow looks; nay, and the 

 Earth smells as sweetly too. Come, let 



